Shipping container



Feb. 10, 1970 R. E. ACKE-R SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed Feb. 15, 1968 United States Patent 3,494,535 SHIPPING CONTAINER Ralph E. Acker, 13305 Belfield, Dallas, Tex. 75234 Filed Feb. 13, 1968, Ser. No. 705,105 Int. Cl. B65d 7/22 U.S. Cl. 229-14 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shipping and storage container for bulk rubber or the like made of inner and outer reinforced corrugated fiber board and detachably mounted on a fork life pallet. Removable frames are provided between inner and outer layers of the fiber board and horizontal steel bands are provided around the frames.

This invention relates to shipping and storage containers for heavy dry bulk material such as rubber which has a tendency to settle or flow and to exert considerable pressure on the lower portion of the container, such container being made of standard low cost materials by methods presently available, such container being adapted to be moved by a fork lift truck.

An object of the invention is to provide a strong low cost container that is easily assembled with tools common to the industry and which is made of materials presently available.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container comprised of separate renewable parts that can be replaced individually if worn out or damaged without replacement of the remaining parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container that is separably attached to a fork lift pallet.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view of a container according to the invention showing the inner and outer cases and portions of the reinforcing frames.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of one of the end frames.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged broken plan view of the corner construction of the container taken along line 33 on FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 on FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a wire clip used to attach the container to the fork lift pallet, and

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of a modification of the invention in which the end frames shown in FIGURE 2 are eliminated.

As illustrated in FIGURE 1, the container consists of an inner corrugated cardboard liner 10 conventionally manufactured with an open top, sides 11, ends 12 and a folded bottom 13 which may or may not be stapled or glued in place. An outer case 14 open at both top and bottom and having sides 15 and ends 16 is made from two layers of corrugated cardboard 17 and 18, respectively, and has at least three steel bands running therearound between said layers 17 and 18, one band 19 being close to the top of the outer case 14, one band 20 being close to the bottom and one band 21 being somewhat below the middle of the outer case 14. The steel bands ice 19, 20 and 21 are extended to the outside of the cardboard layer 18 at one corner so that they can be tightened and fastened with clips 22. The steel bands 19-21 are preferred, :but may be eliminated when the contained material is not particularly heavy.

Conventional wooden frames 23 are built to fit within the sides 15 of the outer case 14 and have horizontal members 24 and 24a located level with the steel strap 19. End frames 25 are fitted to slide into place within the ends of the outer case 14 and have horizontal members 26 matching the horizontal members 24 and 24a in the side frames 23. The respective frame members are offset so as to bear against each other at the corners as illustrated in FIGURE 5.

The fit of the frame members 23 and 25, the outer case 14 and the liner 10 is such that all can be placed together or removed by hand.

A fork lift pallet 27 is provided with closely spaced slats 28 to carry the load in the container, and has its outer slats 28a spaced so that they lie between the bottom horizontal members 24 of the side frames 23. Removable generally C-shaped spring wire clips 29 hold the side frames 23 securely to the pallet 27 by attaching the horizontal members 24 to the slats 28a. By raising the outer case 14 the wire clips 29 can be removed and the container disconnected from the pallet 27 if so desired.

A cheaper version of the container can be built as shown in FIGURE 6 wherein the end frames 25 are eliminated and a liner 10a is constructed longer than the liner 10 so that its ends 12a bear directly against the ends 15 of the outer case 14. When loaded, such a case will bulge at the ends as shown by dotted lines 30, but in many uses this is not an undesirable feature.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a fork lift pallet having parallel container supporting slats, a rectangular shipping and storage container comprised of a fiber board liner, an outer case around and spaced from said liner, frames between the sides of said liner and said case, said frames including horizontal members adjacent the outer edges of two of said supporting slats, and generally C-shaped wire spring clips detachably securing said horizontal members to the two said supporting slats.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 and wherein said frames include upper horizontal cross members, and tension bands therearound.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,665,002 1/1954 Baumann et al. 2,706,063 4/ 1955 Muller. 2,730,287 l/ 6 Mueller. 3,036,752 5/196'2 Elliott. 3,073,500 1/1963 Goodrich et al. 3,090,177 5/1963 Budd. 3,119,542 1/ 1964 Pomfrantz. 3,385,504 5/1968 Adams.

DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 108-55; 229-23 

